


This Wonderful Mess

by My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate



Series: That Wizards and Powers AU [2]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Powers and Wizards, But it's there, Canon Era, Gore, Impilied transphobia, Implied JoJo/Elmer, Implied Sputtons, Like it's not a lot, M/M, Period Typical Homophobia, Pre-Canon, Prostitution, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, The Refuge, Trans Male Character, Underage is there for a while twords the top, all off screen though, and all associated warnings, dispite the warnings, from 'it was several years later' to 'once the man was done', lots of gore, period typical racism, saving that one, slight angst, someone save my boys from me, this is actually kinda cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 20:03:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15251004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate/pseuds/My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate
Summary: Rodger is just a street kid doing whatever it takes to not starve or end up in jail when he meets Coffee Bean, a -litteral- shining light with enthusiasm to boot.This is the story of how they came together.





	This Wonderful Mess

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings as above, but here they are again
> 
> *Gore  
> *Non-explisit sex  
> *Prostitution  
> *Racism  
> *Homophobia  
> *Impilied transphobia

A young boy ran as fast as he could. Away.

He had to get away.

Blood dripped from his left eye, leaving a scattered trail through Brooklyn. He had to get away.

Away. Manhattan, maybe. Or just the lodging house, the one where Spot Conlon stayed.

He would be safe there. Spot Conlon could protect him. He protected his boys. And that was who he wanted to be. One of Spot's boys.

When he stumbled into the doorway and knocked weakly, he half expected to keel over and die then and there. Just another poor powered boy dead on the streets.

But the door opened. He was taken inside.

He was safe, for now. 

“What's your name kid?” A short buff boy maybe a little older then him asked. 

“Rodger. My name is Rodger. And I have powers.” Rodger said quietly. He was small and scrappy looking, perfect for being a newsie. His voice was maybe a little higher then most boys his age.

“Welcome to the Brooklyn Newsies Rodger.”  
Rodger felt a small swell of pride at his name. The name he chose. The only name they would ever know him by.

 

It was several years later. Rodger was pressed against a alley. The person pressed against him was a older man, probably married but willing to take advantage of a street kid desperate for money.

Which Rodger was.

Selling was slow, and he had grown enough that he was no longer the small scrawny boy he had been. 

Now he was broad shouldered and tall, not as muscled as some of his friends but it was definitely there.

But with his growing up, it meant bits he didn't want to grow did to.

At least they had one use. To get some money so he didn't starve. 

Once the man was done, Rodger hiked up the skirt he had donned to actually get customers and slunk out of the alley. He would take a bath tonight, though he never felt clean anymore. The dress didn't help, nor hide the obvious bruises on his neck from hands and lips. 

He found the alley he had stashed his clothes in, including the bandages he used to wrap his chest. And while that was the most tedious part of dressing, it was the most important aside from pants.

Finally dressed the way he should be, Rodger set out for home, the moon his sole guide. 

He passed a alley when he heard muffled shouts and a skuffle. Rodger was about to check it out when a young girl and boy, in tears, ran past him. But the sounds of a fight didn't stop, if anything they got louder. Rodger stalked down the alley, not sure who to fight but knowing that someone had tried to take those two little kids made his blood boil.

What he found, in the light of the moon, was a grown man lifting a short boy off the ground and slamming him into a concrete wall. “You cost me boy! And you're gonna pay, pretty thing like you…”

“Hey, bullbrain!” Rodger, stupidly, yelled. The man glanced away from the boy he had pinned to the wall by the neck to glance at the newcomer. He was distracted long enough for the boy to kick him and consequently be dropped.

The man grabbed the boy’s vest as he knelt on all fours on the ground, gasping for air. “You're gonna pay now!” The man administered a swift kick to the ribs, knocking what little air he had left out of his lungs. 

The man picked the boy up like a ragdoll and threw him into a nearby crate. Then he turned to Rodger, who had been frozen watching the whole thing. The man cracked he knuckles as he strode forward. “It ain't your place to intervene boy..” He said, voice dangerously low.

Rodger clocked him on the side of the head when he was withen striking distance. Then kicked him in the knee and swept him off his feet.

Dusting off his hands and stomping on the man’s back for good measure, he went to check on the boy in the crate. “Hey, you okay?” Rodger asked.

The boy was still breathing hard. “Yha, yha I'm fine. Help me out?” The boy offered his hands and Rodger helped him climb out of the crate. 

Damnit the boy looked gorgeous in the moonlight. Damn his brain but hey, at least he probably wouldn't get charged with sodomy. The court would see him as a girl.

So if this other boy was like him in terms of partner preference… That could be amazing.

Damnit he already had a crush. 

The boy dusted himself off and picked up a hat that had been dropped on the ground. “Well, thank you. But I have to get home, and it's a long walk.” Rodger would had sworn up and down the boy was a faint shade of pink in that moment. Not blushing, glowing a faint shade of pink.

Rodger crossed his arms. “Nope. You're hurt, you’re coming with me.” Rodger said with harsh finality. The boy sighed and nodded. 

“Show me the way.” He said. “I'm Coffee Bean by the way.” He sounded so cheerful, he was probably a Manhattan boy. 

He babbled on about the time he was stuck on a farm outside of the city the entire way to the lodging house. Rodger found Coffee Bean increasingly interesting. He finished his story as they reached the street of the lodging house. “And that's why I'm scared of chickens.”

Rodger laughed a little. Then he heard something. Footsteps. He put a hand over Coffee Bean’s mouth and shrouded them both, making them invisible to passerbys. That was his power after all, invisibility.

The person, a drunkard who was mostly harmless, stumbled on his way. Once he’d passed the two boys Rodger unshrouded them. “C’mon, we’d better hurry.”

Coffee Bean followed Rodger, almost on his heels the rest of the way. Rodger opened the door and shoved Coffee Bean inside first before entering himself and slamming the door shut. The two’s dramatic entrance drew eyes, but not many.  
Rodger dragged him upstairs after paying both of their rents. “C’mon, you can have the bunk below mine. I’ll show you where it is but then I have to scram for a little bit.” Coffee Bean nodded and followed Rodger upstairs. 

Once he was sat on the bunk, Rodger realized he never introduced himself. “My name is Rodger, by the way. And I’m just gonna call you Beans.”

Beans nodded. “Pleasure to meet you Rodger.” In that moment Rodger noticed he was glowing. Like, actually glowing like a flame. Just this light was a soft yellow like candlelight. Dim and comforting, not really there to hurt you, but to light your way.

That was Beans’ power. He glowed.

Rodger left him sitting on the bed and hurried to the bathroom to unwrap himself, bathe, and change into his favorite baggy shirt. Once that was done -he was lucky enough that he had a smaller chest- and slipped back into the bunk room, he found Beans fast asleep. His glow had changed color to a darker blue, almost invisible against the blackness of the night shadows.  
Rodger hauled himself to the top bunk and fell asleep five seconds later.

 

The next morning, Rodger woke up to someone poking his back. Thankfully Rodger slept on his stomach. All he had to do was turn his head to glare at the person who dared poke him.

It was Beans. The morning light made his glow almost disappear. The only reason it didn't was how vibrantly green it was. “Rodger! Rodger! C’mon, time to get up!” 

Rodger tried to slap his hand away. “I will when you get down and leave me be.” 

“No you won't! Get up!” Beans insisted. Rodger groaned.

“I'm up, now get down so I can get up.” He waited until Beans was down the ladder to sit up, turn invisible, and ghost down the ladder and into the bathroom. He had mastered stealth by this point.

Once he came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. Beans was in the middle of pulling on his suspenders. Rodger didn't mean to surprise him, but apparently he did.

“Hi.” Rodger said behind Beans. Beans jumped a foot in the air and whirled around. 

“I thought you were still in bed!” Beans almost yelled. The sunlight filtering through the window hid whatever glow he had. But it also highlighted his dirty blond hair. In a very unfair way.

“I'm not. C’mon, you can sell in Brooklyn with me today, I sell by the harbor.” Rodger said, grabbing his hat off the bedpost and heading out the door. “C’mon Beansie.”

“Don't call me that!” Beans yelled after him, struggling to catch up. Rodger was a good few inches taller and eveidently much faster. And Beans was also stuffing a empty coffee cup in his bag. Where had he even gotten that? 

“I’ll call you what I want shorty.” Rodger snipped back playfully.

Beans caught on to the fact that it was just meaningless teasing. “Yha yha beanstalk. Where’s Jack to climb ya?”

Rodger tried not to laugh too hard. “Real funny shrub.”

“Corn stalk.” 

“Sapling.”

“I am very sappy…” Beans wiggled his eyebrows a little as they exited the lodging house and weaved through the crowds that had already gathered on the Brooklyn streets. 

“Shuddup half-pint.” Rodger rolled his eyes, but his heart did a little flip. Against his wishes. 

The banter continued as they walked, getting steadily more familiar and the two boys getting to know one another. Beans was from outside the city. Beans fished out of Rodger that he was indeed from Brooklyn and that he had only left twice to go to Manhattan and Queens.

Rodger admitted he like cats better then dogs, and was pleasently surprised that Beans was also a cat person. 

Rodger had the feeling he and Beans would be good friends. 

 

 

Months later, Rodger leaned on the railing of the Brooklyn Bridge. Why? He was waiting for his and his best friend's every-other-day meet up. The sun cast a brilliant red light over the towers of the bridge, and it was nights like this Rodger loved the most. 

Just him and his best friend, paling around the city and causing havok in Manhattan or Brooklyn and getting drunk and not remembering anything in the morning. 

He was also pretty sure he spotted Elmer and Spot following him, but they had since disappeared into the crowd. He wasn't that concerned. It wasn't like he and Beans did anything. As much as Rodger wanted to.

But intent meant nothing without action, which he probably would never take. Beans frequently talked about the girls he had met.

Speak of the devil, at that moment Rodger saw Beans walking on top of the border between the bridge and certian death. 

Rodger felt his heart almost stop in fear. “Beans! Get down!”

Beans looked up at him, and smirked in the very annoying and endearing way he did when he knew he was scaring people. But he did jump down. 

Rodger ran and skidded to a stop in front of him. “What were you thinking ya nitwit?! You coulda died!”

“But I didn't, I’m invincible!” Beans’ yellow glow was particularly bright, bright enough to kinda see in the evening light. Rodger had come to figure out that the color and intensity corresponded with his mood. And yellow meant happy, content. Rodger liked that Beans was happy and content with him.

“Well you ain't immortal, and I sure as hell don't wanna test if you are.” Rodger didn't want his friend to die. 

The two were set to pillage Manhattan and throw tomatoes at the Delancys that night, so off they went with paper bags full of bad tomatoes shopowners had given them. 

As they walked across the bridge, Beans offhandedly mentioned a boy he found cute and Rodger stopped dead. “What?”

Beans froze to. “Um, there's this boy and I think he's real cute…” He looked ready to bolt. 

Rodger ran that information over in his head. Beans liked boys. Beans could possibly like him. He may have a chance. 

Beans mumbled something and started to take off running, but Rodger grabbed his wrist. “No! No, I’m cool with it. I like boys to. Just kinda surprising.” 

Beans relaxed instantly. His glow, which had been a vibrint red, now faded back to light yellowish gold. “Awesome! C’mon, these tomatoes won't last forever.”

And just like that, they were back to normal. The Delancys were covered in tomato guts, they drank a little, and Rodger ended up staying the night in Manhattan. But he, in his drunken haze, forgot to unwrap his chest.

Rodger woke up in the bed under Beans’ bunk. His chest hurt worse then ever, and he frantically pulled his shirt off to unwrap his chest. His breathing eased, his chest still hurt though. 

Rodger pulled his shirt back on, but found it did nothing. And with how his chest was hurting he guessed he wasn't wrapping tomorrow. So he went hunting for a new shirt. Thankfully the Manhattan newsies kept a basket of clothes for newcomers and there was a sutibly baggy blue shirt in there. Rodger stuffed his red shirt and the bandages in his paperbag.

There, he was safe.

Rodger pulled the blankets of his bed back over himself, but he couldn't go back to sleep. Sighing, he got back up and poked Beans. “Beans, Beans wake up.” He whispered.

Beans batted at him weakly. “Go 'way..” He muttered. “'upid peanu’ brittl’.”

Rodger rolled his eyes at his friend’s strange dreams and sleep talking habits. “Beans, it's Rodger. C’mon, wake up.” 

Beans yawned and nestled deeper into the blankets. Rodger sighed and got up on the bed to try and shake Beans awake. 

The next thing he knew it was morning and Beans was poking him. Rodger groaned and looked up at him with his good eye. “Wha?”

“Why are you in my bed? And even better why was I on top of you? And even better then that why did it look like we fell asleep that way? Did we like do anything while we were drunk?” Beans asked. Rodger noticed he was indeed under Beans. Beans was lying on top of him with one arm still wrapped around his waist. 

“I couldn't sleep so I tried to wake you up and I guess I fell asleep up here. And frankly you haven't moved.” Rodger pointed out that they likely hadn't moved from the position they had fallen asleep in the previous night.

“Well you try moving.” Beans said, and Rodger felt him bury his face in his shoulderblades. Rodger stiffined a little, unsure about this, but relaxed and almost fell back asleep.

Of course killjoy Jack Kelly woke them both up. “Hey, lovebirds! Time to wake up!” He banged the side of the bed, rattling the frame.

Rodger and Beans both sat up quickly, blushing bright red. Beans smacked the back of his head. “Shuddup or I tell Crutchie 'bout your little crush.”

Jack scowled at him. “How’d you find out?”

“Everyone but Crutchie knows!” Beans retaliated. “Now go!” Beans’ glow was a mix of bright pink and white, making a almost marbled appearance. Pink meant he was embarrassed (they both were) but Rodger didn't know what white meant. 

He was trying to figure that out, but Beans turned back to him and smiled. “C’mon, we should get up if we want to get to the circulation gate.” The two had a system worked out, they each sold in whoever's borough they fell asleep in.

Rodger grabbed his papes from Weasel, smirking at him. “Heya Weasel. Oscar, how's that shirt?” 

“That was you and your little boyfriend?” Oscar sneered, starting to come out from behind the desk. Beans stood in front of him, and he did something Rodger had never seen before. The glow turned dark red, and it was almost solid. 

Rodger was a little scared, but apparently Oscar was much more scared and backed off. 

Beans stopped glowing so much, until it was almost gone in the early morning light. Beans snatched his own papers and handed Rodger his own. He then marched off, snarling at Morris as he walked by. “Leave him alone or I’ll make you regret it normie.”

Rodger cursed Beans’ brash nature. He couldn't leave anything alone. And now he was likely to get hurt. And there was nothing anyone could do.

Morris grabbed Beans’ shirt collar and shoved him against the brick wall. Several of the other boys stopped to watch, scared. For Beans.

“What’d you just say you little freak?” Morris snarled, pinning the shorter boy. He loomed over Beans, and Rodger was pretty sure that he had brass knuckles in his back pocket. 

“I said you're a normie. You have nothing that makes you special.” Beans said definitely, looking Morris right in the eyes. Rodger heard gasps behind him, from several of the other newsies. None of the powered ones had ever dared look Morris or Oscar in the eye. Much less ever say what Beans was saying. 

“You and I are gonna go somewhere, and none of you,” he pointed at everyone gathered around. “Are going to come after us.” 

Rodger wanted to go after them. He wanted to save Beans. But fear kept him away. Even with a good headline selling was terrible. Several people came up to him, asking where the usual boy who sold there was. Rodger had been force to admit that he was taken away. ‘No I can't promise when he’ll be back, sir.’ ‘No ma’am, I don't know where he is.’

It killed him inside.

After the evening edition was out, Rodger still hadn't left to go home. He was going to stay another night, in case Beans came back. Invisibility allowed him to hide from the others unless he so chose. Eventually Spot and Elmer showed up, which was confusing, until JoJo and Buttons attached themselves to them. Then it made more sense. 

Rodger went back to Brooklyn the next day. He did a terrible job selling there to, even with the huge crowds around the harbor and sailors eager for news. 

That night, as the sun set in a purple sky, Rodger walked to the bridge out of habit. Beans had been gone for almost two days,and Rodger was starting to worry if his friend was dead.

He stopped in the middle of the bridge, and waited. He always got there first.

And for almost two months no one showed.

He was surprised, exactly two months later, when he saw a familiar figure leaning on the border down the bridge. One he would know anywhere. Running as fast as he could down the walkway, Rodger found his best friend leaning on the wall, smiling with a black eye and a bloody nose, and that was just what Rodger could see in the dying sun. 

“Beans you idiot! I’d punch you if you weren't already broken.” Rodger said, noting that he had seemingly lost his vest and overshirt and was left in a dirt undershirt.

Beans smiled lopsidedly. “Good to see you to Rodg.” 

“C’mon ya nitwit, let’s get you back to Brooklyn. You're hurt.” Rodger tried to get Beans to lean on him, but Beans’ knees bluckled after a few steps and he cried out in pain. Rodger scooped him up to carry him. 

Rodger was stronger then he’d thought or Beans had gotten a lot lighter. He didn't like the second option at all. It felt too easy to carry Beans the miles back to the lodging house, even with breaks in between. 

Rodger carried Beans up the stairs after paying both their rents. Setting him down on a bunk proved a nye impossible task as Beans would tremble and go white with fear. Even the ever preasent, though flickering, glow was white. 

So Rodger hauled him up to the top bunk and that settled Beans down. Now that they were in a place with lights, Rodger could proporaly deal with the injuries his friend sustained.

His back, under the shirt, was a cris cross of scars and fresh marks from a whip or a stick. Brusies covered every other inch of his back that wasn't scabbed over or bleeding. His sides and chest weren't much better. His stomach was almost worse. It seemed like someone had dragged a knife in a pattern over the soft skin, and parts of the design were still bleeding. 

Rodger did what he could. It was a small wonder Beans was even still standing, the fact he had walked half way across the bridge was a miracle. 

Rodger finished tying the bandage around Beans’ stomach, and he was finished. “You won't be moving for a little bit, but you're gonna be okay.”

Beans nodded. “Thanks Rodg.” Rodger had mostly, until this point, avoided looking at Beans’ face. But now he did and he was crying.

Beans instantly looked concerned and tried to sit up. “Rodger? What's wrong?”

Rodger tried not to cry harder. “I'm-I’m-I’m sorry… I don't know why I'm crying…” 

Beans reached to hug him. “It's okay. I'm sorry for worrying you. I shoulda- I shoulda been quiet. I'm sorry Rodg..” 

Rodger supported him. “If you get yourself hurt again I’m killing you.” He muttered into Beans’ shoulder. Beans chuckled.

“You're gonna kill me a lot then.” Beans said with a laugh. Then he winced in pain. Rodger made him lie back down. “That wasn't my finest idea..”

“Yep. I’ll be right back. Don't die in that time, capiche?”

“Capiche. No dieing.” Beans repeated. 

Rodger grabbed some extra blankets and a few extra pillows. Once he had everything, he dragged them up to the top bunk. The November chill had set into the city, which was how Rodger ratinolized sharing a bed. Beans had lost a lot of blood and needed something to keep him warm. 

Which meant possibly that it was time to tell someone about his secret. Beans had proved himself a trustworthy friend.

Rodger said he was getting changed and slid back down the ladder and to the bathroom, where he changed out of his wrap and put on a baggier shirt. Didn't hide it perfectly, but the blue shirt was in the wash and this was the next best thing. 

Invisible, he dashed back to his bunk with Beans and climbed up. Dropping the invisibility, Rodger climbed into bed next to Beans. 

Beans, of course, noticed. “So, um…” He sounded akward. Rodger nervously fluffed his shirt and gestured for Beans to be quiet.  
“Yha. I'm still a boy though.” This was the first time Rodger had ever said anything about his abnormality. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

“Okay.” Beans nodded. “I'm guessing no touching the chest right now?” Beans said it in probably the least sarcastic way Rodger had ever heard him say anything. It was a little surprising. 

“Yha, that’d be preferable.. You want to sleep now or talk a little more?” Rodger asked, quickly changing the topic. Beans knew, goal accomplished. 

“I'm good either way.” Beans said nervously. The glow had turned from a comforting yellow to a light purple, almost lilac. That was the shade that said 'i want to tell you something’.

“What do you want to tell me?” Rodger asked, settling down among the blankets and pillows. 

Beans took a deep breath. “When I was in… In the… Damn now I know what Jack meant when he said you can't talk about it, when I was where I was the thought of you kept me alive I guess. Seeing you again. Talking to you again.” Another deep breath. “Maybe kissing you if you’d let me.” 

Rodger was in mild shock. But he got over it quickly enough. Because damnit the guy he liked just said he liked him back and Rodger could kiss him. Which is what he did.

Beans melted into the kiss. It never got into French kissing because Beans pulled away. “That was awesome.”

Rodger nodded. “It was. Super, super crazy awesome.” 

“We should do it again.”

“Why not? But nothing too far, okay?”

Beans nodded and kissed Rodger. Rodger rested his hands on Beans’ sides and Beans threw his arms around Rodger’s neck. 

And that's where it basically stopped. Making out in bed. Which Rodger didn't really mind and seemingly neither did Beans. 

They stopped when Beans broke the very heated kiss to yawn. 

“I think that's enough for one night, we can talk this out in the morning.” Rodger said gently. Beans nodded and yawned again. 

Rodger rolled onto his stomach in his usual sleeping position. Beans moved so that he was half on top of Rodger. 

And they fell asleep that way. How it was comfortable was a question Spot asked when he found them the next morning. But he let them be. Who was he to yell at them when Buttons was currently still in his bed, asleep? 

He just won a bet to.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm glad you read this through. Drop a comment or a kudos if you liked it and I'll see you later!


End file.
